


Waking Ritual

by AutumnVine



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Byleth wants to help but it's okay, Comfort No Hurt, Established Relationship, F/F, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Torture, Mostly El comforting herself, Post-Canon, Short & Sweet, briefly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:48:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27576082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AutumnVine/pseuds/AutumnVine
Summary: A small seed of panic grows in the pit of her stomach, and before she’s even shrugged off the last vestiges of sleep, Edelgard sits up and begins her waking ritual.---Each morning, Edelgard performs a little ceremony to remind herself that things have changed for the better. Byleth, as always, is curious but respectful.
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 2
Kudos: 75





	Waking Ritual

Edelgard awakens to familiar surroundings. 

Red and black curtains were drawn over the sides of the massive four-poster bed, faint candlelight spilling through the cracks from the sconces on the wall. Reaching out with a lazy and dream-addled motion, she pulls the curtain closest to her away, giving her a full view of the royal bedchambers. 

That in itself was a relief, as it was each and every morning spent since emerging from those dungeons that smelled of blood and death. Since the masked mages poked and prodded her with knives and needles, rending open her very flesh. Since the rats had eaten her siblings to the bone. Since…

A small seed of panic grows in the pit of her stomach, and before she’s even shrugged off the last vestiges of sleep, Edelgard sits up and begins her waking ritual. 

First she brings a set of fingers to the wrist of her dominant hand and carefully feels for any types of restraints or bindings. No chains, rope or leather straps impede her, and so she tries again on the other hand. Again, nothing restrains her at the wrist, and that eases the tension forming in her chest. 

But she wasn’t done. One more hand goes to her neck, and she feels the heavy iron of the collar resting there, dragging, chaining her to the damp floor of that room without light. Yet her fingers touch only skin, and the tactile illusion vanishes. 

Edelgard von Hresvelg was still in control. 

Breathing a grateful sigh, she turns to see a pair of large cobalt-blue eyes staring back at her on the other side of the bed. Halfway in and out of the bedsheets with a sleepy smile, the Empress of Adrestia looked more like the young teacher she used to be instead of the war general she had become. 

“Good morning Byleth,” Edelgard casually greets her, tugging on the sleeves of her nightgown to straighten them out. 

“Hmmm, El…” she returns with a yawn, stretching as she does, causing the sheets to further pull down around her. “Doing… okay?” 

Smiling to herself, Edelgard reaches out and runs a finger over the curve of her wife’s cheek. “Just fine, my love. How long were you staring?”

“Not long,” Byleth responds with a slightly guilty tone slipping in between the breathy pauses of her speech. “I… wanted to make sure you were feeling alright.” 

“You needn’t worry so much,” Edelgard softly chides her, but she still feels the swelling of her own heart at the other’s genuine concern. Some days it was still so hard to believe that Byleth had chosen _her_ , again and again.

“I know…” Byleth looks sheepishly at her. “It’s just… if something is bothering you right now… I want to help.”

“Oh Byleth… I’m okay, I promise.” 

So often did the other woman’s insistence about caring for her take Edelgard by surprise. Hubert loved her in his own familial way, but where as his means of showing it was like a delicate and shadowy ripple across a pond, Byleth’s was like a tidal wave crashing to shore. 

“How about this,” Edelgard offers as an olive branch. “If something changes, you’ll be the first to know. Does that sound fair?” 

Byleth nods. “Fair,” she agrees. Then smiles again.

Always thankful for her wife’s respect of those boundaries she still drew around herself, Edelgard runs a hand through the former Professor’s equally cobalt-blue hair, enjoying the way it frames her face. 

“Some scars take longer to heal,” she says quietly, then taps a finger on the side of Byleth’s head for emphasis. “Those up here longest still. So I appreciate your patience with my little quirks.” 

“El, out of the two of us… we both know I’ve always been the bigger weirdo,” Byleth bluntly says, and they both giggle together. 

“I’ll ignore the fact that you also just called me a _weirdo_ , and get to the part where I thank you,” Edelgard playfully retorts, then leans over to press her lips to those of her spouse. 

As Byleth deepens the kiss and they both tumble back onto the bed and under the sheets together, she thinks over all that had transpired between them, and just how much she owes the woman who altered both their destinies. 

_For teaching me, when I needed a star to guide me._

_For protecting me, time and time again, even at the earliest edges of the dawn._

_For loving me, when I thought such a thing impossible._

“El,” Byleth whispers in the smallest space that separates their lips, her hands slowly roaming over the Emperor’s body. “I love you… sometimes more than I… could put into words.” 

_And sometimes I feel like you can read my mind, my teacher._

“I love you too, Byleth.” Of all the truths she knew, this was the one that held itself the firmest in her own heart. “More than I ever think I could show you.”

Yet both would endeavor to try anyway. 

Even when the ghosts of her past still haunted her, Edelgard felt no fear. If the chains that once bound her should find their way back, she could shake those off too. No more monsters hiding in the dark would ever take anything from her again. 

Because she knew that from now on, she was safe.

**Author's Note:**

> Just a short story I wrote because the opening scene of Edelgard checking herself each morning for restraints was stuck in my head. Both in-game and in a lot of fics (including my own), Edelgard opens up to Byleth easily enough, and so I wanted to try writing a moment where she chooses not to, and that’s okay because they trust and love each other. (Byleth recognizes what she’s doing easily enough anyway.) 
> 
> If you’re wondering why Byleth has those frequent pauses in her speech, its because I imagined this scene taking place when she is still getting used to living and breathing with a heart, making speech occasionally difficult. Just something weird and experimental. 
> 
> Anyway, thank you for taking the time to read!


End file.
